The future gambling landscape in southeastern Massachusetts could become significantly less clouded in a month. The Massachusetts Gaming Commission decided Thursday to schedule a March 21 meeting at a yet-to-be-named site in southeastern Massachusetts to hear directly from interested parties as it weig...

The future gambling landscape in southeastern Massachusetts could become significantly less clouded in a month.

The Massachusetts Gaming Commission decided Thursday to schedule a March 21 meeting at a yet-to-be-named site in southeastern Massachusetts to hear directly from interested parties as it weighs whether to open the region to commercial casino proposals. Gaming Commission Chairman Stephen Crosby didn’t rule out the possibility of holding a vote that day on how to proceed in the region, but also didn’t commit to a vote.

“I think inviting people in to speak is a good idea,” Crosby said during Thursday’s meeting in Boston. “For the people involved, this is a pretty high-stakes question.”

The 2011 law that legalized expanded gambling in Massachusetts divides the state into three regions and allows for up to one casino to be licensed in each.

In Region C — which contains Bristol County, Norfolk County, Cape Cod and the Islands — the Gaming Commission will not solicit commercial casino applications unless it determines that it is unlikely for a federally recognized American Indian tribe to meet the requirements for running a tribal casino under the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.

The Mashpee Wampanoag tribe hopes to build a tribal casino on land in East Taunton.

Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Chairman Cedric Cromwell said his tribe has made progress toward a casino and sees no reason under the law to open the region to commercial competition.

“We welcome the Gaming Commission coming to southeastern Massachusetts, and we are confident that they will recognize that there is no reason or basis under the Expanded Gaming Act to seek applications for a commercial casino in this region,” Cromwell said in a statement.

Faced with questions over whether the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs will approve the tribe’s land application, the state Gaming Commission began discussing late last year whether to open Region C to commercial applicants.

One commercial developer, KG Urban, hopes to build a casino in New Bedford and has a pending federal court case challenging the legality of the section of the Massachusetts law that gives the tribe the first shot at the southeastern casino market.

Some have argued that if the tribe’s pursuit of a casino drags out a long time and ultimately proves fruitless, southeastern Massachusetts would miss out on the economic development the state law was designed to create.

The tribe’s land application to establish an initial reservation is still under consideration at the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

The Mashpee say they are also in the process of negotiating a new casino compact with the state after the Department of the Interior rejected the compact the two parties agreed to last summer. The federal department ruled the revenue split contained in the compact was too lopsided against the tribe’s interests.

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Earlier this month, the Department of the Interior notified the tribe that its land qualifies for the initial reservation exception and that it anticipates soon determining whether it has the authority to take land in trust on the tribe’s behalf.

Cromwell also said the Mashpee will soon have a new compact with Gov. Deval Patrick.

“When the Commission considers these facts, as well as how much farther along we are than any other project, an overwhelming vote from the City of Taunton supporting our plans, and an environmental process that will be completed this spring, we are confident that they will agree that making any change to the Southeastern Massachusetts region is unnecessary,” Cromwell said in a statement.

In other news, the Gaming Commission voted Wednesday to approve a draft enhanced code of ethics. The draft regulations, among other things, bar Gaming Commission employees from such activities as staying at a casino hotel or wagering at any casino owned by an entity with a Massachusetts gambling license.

The commissioners also voted Wednesday to hire attorney Catherine Blue as the Gaming Commission’s general counsel. Blue is an alumna of Stonehill College and William and Mary Law School. She has previous public and private sector experience.